Creating the intelligent high street

Retailers need to adjust to serving new customers with new expectations. How will the new breed of customers, including the all-important millennials, change the risk profile of retailing and can Loss Prevention professionals meet the challenges?

In his keynote presentation at the Retail Risk – Dublin conference on 6th July, “Creating the Intelligent High Street”, Andy Martin, Business Development Manager, Axis Communications, will be discussing how video analytics can help the industry make the adjustment.

To attend the session, free to all retailers, go to http://www.retailrisk.com/dublin-booking/

Axis invented the first IP camera and are leading developments in network video, audio and access control, while Andy has 25 years experience in retail with a variety of major brands including DSGi, HMV, Fopp and Morrisons, as well as owning and running his own business in the sector.

Andy quotes a statistic that 70% – 75% of UK retailers are now using network video on part or all of their estate, and many now look to progress towards a new phase of ‘interoperability’– linking their IP platforms to audio and access control and to data mining RFID and EAS tagging – enabling retailers to respond to customers better and to identify different types of customer behaviour.

For example, he says, with the right tools a retailer of health and beauty products can now recognise the need to distinguish between customers shopping for high end perfume and cosmetics and those who are simply nipping in for a few toiletries, and offer appropriate levels of service.

Self-check outs have introduced extra challenges for surveillance. Could cameras monitor self-scan of products in the aisles of a store? Andy sees this as an area for development.

“Our cameras are already able to read bar codes and QR codes. There’s no reason why that technology can’t be developed and adapted for a PoS application.  There is already significant development in linking customer analytics to PoS.

“You would still need to be presenting the product to a PoS for the EAS to be captured. If you think of a camera as a small sensor, there’s definitely potential for more applications within retail fixtures and fittings.

Linking IP cameras with smarter tags could offer a new level of security, he suggests.

“Smart shelves and smart tags that create an event alarm are already integrated with our cameras on a fairly simple level, around the EAS system being alerted.

“And we’ve been working with a partner on connecting to a tag that is so smart it talks to the camera all the time about changes in its environment, and that goes with a video case file”.

The challenge of keeping IP cameras cyber secure will also come up for discussion, and Andy sees a big area for debate in the regulations surrounding IP cameras and CCTV in general.

“Cyber security is at the heart of everything we do,” he says. “With the GDPR looming there will be pressure for an improvement in industry standards.”

He also notes there is currently “a massive variance in the way surveillance is regulated across Europe”. Andy suggests CCTV’s increasing importance for national security makes it essential for security integrators to collaborate in ensuring best practice so that responsible deployment of surveillance is not sanctioned.

“We need to be making the job of the police and the biometrics commission and the government agencies who are involved in surveillance easier by sharing best practice and knowledge.”